Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-06-01

| ghenies lay buried in the sands ut Norfolk
! homes of men who had never east a bal
lot-depriyed of that right because Of its
restriction tO property qualification.
These with other causes OF complaint
| produced great diScontect in the western
| part OF the State, and as early ~ ISIS, the
question of calling convention to revise
the Constitution began TO be agitated, but
was not until October ), ls29, that the
body convened. 1t was remarkable
gathering. There sat James Madison and
James Monroe, eXPreSidents OF the United
States, John Randolph, of Roanoke, and
among Others renowned for their wisdom
and elOquence.
The body WAS composed of ninety-siX
members, eighteen of whom were from the
territory now embraced within the limits
of West Virginia. These were William
Mccoy, Of PendletOn; Andrew Beirne, Of
Monroe; William Smith, Of Greenbrier;
John Baxter, Of POcahOntas; Thomas
Griggs, Jr., and Heroine l.. Opie of Jeiler-
son; William Naylor and William Donald
son, of Hampshire; Elisha Boyd and Philip
PendletOn, of Berkeley; Edwin s. Duncan,
of Harrison; John Laidley, of Cabell;
Lewis Summers, of Kanawha; Adam See,
of Randolph; Philip Dnddridge and Alex
ander Campbell OF Brooke, and Charles 5.
Morgan and Eugcnius NJ. Wilson, of Mon
Ongalia.
The delegates from the opposing sections
were arrayed in solid phalanX against each
other The former plead elOTuently and
long in behalf of the ncedful changes, but
all in vain The Objectionable features of
the old Constitution were nearly all ELI
grated into the new. At last the work
wilS done, and ON the final vote TO adopt as
whole, every western delegate voted in
| the negative, except Mr.. DOddridgr, who
| would have done 80 had he not been CON
fined to his hotel by illness. But it was
in the popular vote that the opposition Of
the two sections was most clearly seen.
Every county east OF the Blue Ridge with
one n-Warwick-gave majority
for ratification, while every cOun-
ty in what is now West Virginia,
with two eXCeptiOns-JctltrsOn and lIamp-
Shire-yoted largely in favor of rejection.
| The total vote cast west of the AllegheniCS
was 9, S66 of which 3, 40 were for rcicc-
| ton. Notwithstanding, the Constitution
WAS adopted by majority Of 1882, and
continued to be the organic law of the land
for twenty years.
The murmurings Of discomfort were
loud and deep throughout the West. Men
Of talent and aspiration now saw, in addi-
ton to other evils, that of political Ostra-
ciSm. Nearly three quarters of a century
had passed away since iTginia had become
an independent State, and in nearly all
that time hut one man-Cener;tl Andrew
Moore, of ROckbrid e, had ever been
elected To Il seat in the United States Sen
ate from u county west of the Blue Ridge,
and but One-,JOSeph Johnson, of Harrison
county, had ever been chosen to I'LL the
GubernatOrial chair from II county west of
| the AllrghcnieS. so great was the dscOn-
| tent that il resulted III the meeting q!
the
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF lS5O-5l,
which convened ut Richmond October lith
of the former year. The delegates were
chosen from the several Senatorial districts
| Those from the districts and parts of dis
! trcts and parts of districts then lying in
what is now West Virginia We're ~ fol-
| lows: From the District of Rockingham,
PendletOn and Pope, John Kenney, George
Deneale 4. NJ. Newman and John Lion
berger; from the District of Shenandoah,
| Hardy and Warren, Green l.. SamuelS, Will
liam Seymour, Giles Cook and Samuel G.
Williams; from the District Of Jefferson,
Berkeley and Clarke, Charles j. Faulkner,
| William Lucas, Dennis Murphy and An
drew Hunter; from the District of Fred
erick, Hampshire and Morgan, James f.
Stewart, Thomas Sloan, Richard f. Hyrd and
Charles Blue; from the District of Brooke,
Ohio, Hancock and Marshall, Jefferson +.
Martin, Ilchariah Jacob, John kuOte aud
Thomas NJ. Gally; from the District of
| Doddrldge, WetZel, Harrison, Tyler, Wood
and Ritchie, Joseph Johnson, John +.
SnodyrasS, Gideon d. Camden and Peter &.
Van Wrinkle; from the District of Marion,
Preston, Monongalia and Taylor, William
G.. Brown; Edward }. Armstrong, Wait
man Il. Wiley and James Neeson; from
the District OF Randolph, Lewis, Barbour,
Gilmer, BraXtOn, Writ and Jackson,
Samuel l.. Hayes, Joseph Smith, John :.
| Carlisle and Thomas Bland; from the Dis
trict Of Cabell, Mason, Putnam, Wayne,
Boone, Wyoming and Logan, Elisha w.
McComas, Henry j. Fisher and James H..
Ferguson; from the District of Grrenbrier,
Pocahontas, Fayettc, Raleigh, Nicholas,
and Kanawha, George W. Summers, sam
mel Price, William Smith and Benjamin
n. Smith; from the District of Mercer,
Giles, Tazewell, and Morrow, Augustus
A. Chapman, Allen r. Caperton and Albert
G. PendletOn.
At last the work was done and with its
completion came a redress of many Criev-
ances; the constitution was ratified and
under it were enacted all the laws of Nir-
ginia for the period Of ten years. At the
end of that time, civil war lowered near
and the world knows the result.
THE CONVENTION OF 1861.
The morning of the 14th of April, 1861,
witnessed memorable scene in and
about the old State House ut Richmond.
There Virginia had collected her renowned
iuriSts, prOioundeSt thinkers, and literary
characters. There sat eN-President Tyler,
Henry 4. Wise, Ex-Governor of the State
and many Others who had held high posi-
tiOns in the councils Of the uation.
1t was n time fraught with matters
of the graveSt import and the people west
of the mountains sent over the Blue Ridge
their most able statesmen. From the
counties then existing and now within
the confines OF West Virginia, the dele
gates were rs follows: From Barbour
county, Samuel Woods; Berkeley, Edmund
, PendlctOn and Allen c. Hammond;
Braxton and Nicholas, A. C.. Kincade
Brooke, Campbell and Tarr; Cabell, Stew
art; F;Iyette and Raleigh, Henry l.. Giles,
pie; Gilmer and Writ, C. b. Con
rad; Grcenbrier, Samuel Price; Hamp
shire, Edmund NJ. Armstrong and David
Pugh; Hancock, George McC. Porter
Hardy, Thomas Masliu; Harrison, John S,
! Carlisle and Benjamin Wilson; Jackson
and Roane, Franklin p. Turner; Jefferson
Alfred NJ. Barbour and Logan 0Sburn
Kanawha, George w. Summers and Spicel
, Patrick, ST.; Lewis, Caleb BOggers; Logan
Boone and Wyoming, James Lawson; Ma
rion, Alpheus S. Raymond and Ephraim
, L. Hall; Marshall, James Burley; Mason
James II. Couch, ST.; Mercer, Napoleon B
, French; MOnongalis, Waitman I. Wiley
and Marshall NJ. Dent; Monroe, Allen T